The term YOGA has a very ancient history dating back to
the chalcolithic age. The inscriptions found in Mohenjo Daro and Harappa have
revealed the existence of God Shiva, seated in a yogic posture. The term Minakanna
obtained in the inscriptions suggested the early ideal of yogic discipline.
In those remote days the yogis noted for their asceticism and discipline, were
addressed as Minas. Father Heras observes, "that life of asceticism was practised
in the pre-Aryan proto-Indian period, is evident from the fact that one of the
inscriptions mentions "the learned Minas who dwell in the caves". Cave-dwelling
was not ordinary in those days, when beautifully built brick houses were common.
The learned Minas dwelling in caves could not but be ascetics".

Shivayoga has been sponsored by these learned Minas. Three
things stand out into bold relief about Shivayoga.

1) It is historical for it has a history of more than 5000
years. It goes back as far as the chalcolithic age. It was prevalent in the
Indus valley civilization. And from there it spread to Egypt, Sumeru and other
Mediterranean countries.

2) It is democratic in the sense that everybody is eligible
to practise Shivayoga irrespective of caste, colour, creed, rank, age and position.

3) It is scientific in the sense that it is entirely based
upon the laws of light and electricity.

The term Minakanna is pregnant with meaning. In later days,
it was translated into Sanskrit as Animishadristi or unwinking gaze. Crystal
gazing is as old as the hills and the belief that it generates magnetism is
equally old. It was only in 1850 that Baron John Reichenback discovered this
magnetism and described it as odylic force. He announced that odylic force could
be generated by crystal gazing and by crystal magnets on the human body and
human hands. His experiments were conducted in the natural waking condition
of a subject. Since then, odylic force has been photographed and there are reasons
to believe that magnetic crystals and human bodies, send forth emanations which
can be felt and sometimes seen by similar persons. The Ishtalinga, which is
an indispensable means of Shivayoga, is a stone with a glazing covering. Since
the steadfast gaze on Ishtalinga generates magnetism, Ishtalinga is a crystal
magnet.

Ishtalinga is a miniature of Shivayoga. The worship of
Shivalinga, in India, dates from a very long period. The worship of Shivalinga,
as we have it in the temples, is the characteristic feature of Shaivism. There
is another mode of worship known as Ishtalinga form of worship, and Veerashaivism
or Lingayatism advocates this mode of worship. Ishtalinga is worshipped by placing
it on the palm of the left hand so raised as to bring it in line with the centre
of the eyebrows. Ishtalinga is made of light grey slate stone and to be kept
intact it is coated all over with a fine durable paste prepared out of certain
ingredients. The colour of the paste is blue-black or indigo. The colour of
the naso-ciliary plexus or Ajna chakra situated in the centre of the eyebrows
is also indigo. This colour represents Mahat or intuition. The colour of the
covering of Ishtalinga and that of Ajna chakra being akin in nature, they act
and react upon each other thus enriching the magnetic force or intuitive power.
Animishadristi came to be identified with Samyama. Samyama or the concentrated
gaze is the secret upon which the whole of Patanjali Sutra hinges. When one
has succeeded in mastering this Samyama, one will come into the possession of
occult powers. But Samyama is to be practised stage after stage, the higher
one is to be resorted to only after the lower one has been won. Samyama should
pass from gross to the subtle, from the subtle to the causal, from the outer
to the inner, from the inner to the innermost. This gradation has been recognised
by Shivayoga. In Shivayoga the process is threefold which involves Samyama on
Ishtalinga, Pranalinga and Bhavalinga - the outer, the inner and the innermost.
The concentrated gaze of the Ishtalinga reveals the inner light which is known
as Pranalinga or Jyotirlinga. The gaze on the inner light leads one to the realization
of the innermost light or Bhavalinga. When this innermost light is realized
by the yogin, the knowledge of subtle things will be intuitively revealed. The
Shivagamas and the Vachana literature of the 12th century, which preserve intact
this ancient culture of Shivayoga, speak of its glory and greatness in eloquent
terms.

The term Yoga has a variety of meanings but the generally
accepted meaning of he term is union or harmony. The term Yoga is derived from
the root "Yuj", to join or weld together. Just as in welding two pieces of the
same metal are made to become one by the process of heating and hammering, so
in Yoga the embodied spirit is made to become one with the universal spirit
by certain physical and mental exercises. Yoga then signifies a spiritual condition
of universal equality and God Union. When the individual spirit comes in contact
with the universal spirit, then it realises its ultimate object of repose and
all its movements acquire meaning and significance. Be it noted that, this union
or contact is to be established in consciousness alone. If the union is effected
through the repetition of Om, Soham or any other name of God, it is Mantrayoga;
if through the catches, postures and breath control, it is Hathayoga; if through
the control and concentration of the mind, it is Rajayoga; if through the discrimination
between spirit and matter, between self and not-self, it is Jnanayoga; if through
the development of finer emotions, it is Bhaktiyoga; if through the disinterested
performance of actions, it is Karmayoga; if the union is effected through the
concentration on the light reflected in Ishtalinga, it is SHIVAYOGA. In all
these cases, union with the Universal is the one dominant and recurrent note,
however different may be the process.

In Shivayoga the concentrated gaze on the light reflected
in the Ishtalinga is of vital importance for it generates magnetic force which
helps to galvanise into activity the dormant pineal gland.

The whole process of Shivayoga is directed to the awakening
of this dormant pineal gland. It is a rudimentary organ in most people but it
is evolving though slowly. It is possible to quicken its evolution into a condition
in which it can perform its function of apprehending events comprehensively.
It is the organ of cosmic thought as the eye is an organ of seeing and ear of
hearing. The mathematical time which is only an illusion produced by the successive
states of consciousness as one travels through the eternal duration. In Yoga
Shastra this pineal gland is spoken of as the third eye, the function of which
takes place through the middle of the forehead, which is marked by he Hindus
with a tilak or spot therein. Hence in the symbolic representation of Shiva,
we see in the middle of his forehead an opening with red flames issuing therefrom.
This third eye or the pineal gland is atrophied in man, simply because his tendency
has grown downward and his mind has got immersed in sexual pleasures. This eye
and kamic organ are said to be like two pans of a balance, one of which has
to kick the beam when the other grows heavy. Only when we outgrow Kama, lust
or libido and make it as light as possible, that this pineal gland will reopen,
that it will flower out into brilliance.

"We are wonderfully made", says the writer of the Psalms.
But how wonderfully we are made, we hardly care to know. Few of us have any
idea of the amazing variety and intricacy of the processes that take place in
our bodies. We fail to understand the mysteries of our own bodies, which are
as it were, nature's crowning master-pieces. The Yoga-science furnishes us with
an authentic information of our body in the light of the most modern discoveries
of medicine and physiology. The foundations of Yoga are laid in the solid physical
structure of the human body. Man's body is indeed a miracle. The different systems
that make it an organic whole show an extremely beautiful arrangement of parts
and great skill in operation. The most important and complicated of them all
is the central nervous system with its stem and innumerable branches spread
out in all directions. This gives it an appearance of the tree. The flowers
that blossom on this Tree of life are the Chakras and plexuses. The fruits at
various places are the ductless glands. The fruit and flower are not visible
to the physical eye. Only the bare tree with its branches and branchlets is
to be seen. To enjoy the fragrance of the flower and the sweetness of the fruit,
that is immortality, definite steps have to be taken. This forms the practical
part of Yoga as an occult science.

Physiology has discovered functional hierarchy, and the
levels of function are three - the humoral, the autonomous and the voluntary.
Of these three the humoral is the basic and it plays an important part in the
preservation of the body. The Yoga-science has recognized this fact long ago
with an insistence on the electro-structure of the physical body. The humoral
has for its essential function the regulation of all the chemical processes
going on within the cells and is called metabolism. This function is under the
rule of the glandular system. The chemical elements absorbed in food or otherwise
are first turned into colloids by the various digestive processes and then passed
into the blood, finally to be distributed as reserves by the endocrine glands.
The research has been carried far enough to have gained for physiology synoptic
vision of the whole humoral system and of the wonderful subtlety with which
it meets all the needs of the organism and keeps the specifically human equilibrium.
The thyroid deals with iodine, the pituitary with bromine, the parathyroids
with calcium, the suprarenals with alkalis, the liver and the pancreas with
sugar. The equilibrium is constantly maintained by vitamins. Physiology has
ascertained the correspondence of vitamin C with the suprarenal hormones, of
vitamin A with the thyroid, of vitamin E with the kidneys and gonads. Vitamin
E acts exactly like the hormone secreted by the anterior lobe of the pituitary,
vitamin D like that of the parathyroid and vitamin B has an antagonistic action
towards the thyroid gland.

The theory of life as combustion is now superseded by one
of electrical induction. The body can no longer be likened to a machine run
by heat, whose activity is measured in calories; it has become an electric engine.
In humoral system electricity is found to play an important part. Since living
substance is in its nature colloidal, its isolated particles carry electric
charges. These charges constitute a highly differentiated electric lining to
the somatic substance of the body, whose chemical and organic complexity it
arouses and whose activity it commands. J. C. Bose has already shown the existence
and the physiological importance of this electro-structure in the plant, professor
D'Arsonval of Paris and Professor Tchijewsky of Moscow have investigated its
activity in the animal and in man. Now it has been established that the vital
tonus is maintained by the electrical charges inbreathed with the air and carried
by the blood from the lungs to the cells. Just as in the body the purely physical
function is found to be a dynamic entity flowing along the nerves and ruling
organic activity, so has the humoral and cellular function been seen to be equally
electric in nature. The colloidal constitution of living substance has for its
counterpart an organized lining of electrical charges. The chemistry of the
cells and their metabolism has to be maintained by borrowing food and air from
the environment. What we really eat and breathe are ions, that is, molecules
plus electrical charges. These charges represent an all important factor in
the maintenance of the vital tonus of the organism. It is on the basis of the
electro-structure which maintains the vital tonus of the organism, the Yoga-science
asserts that the physical body could be electrified to such an extent as to
be literally free from disease and death. Allam Prabhu, a master-yogi of the
Virashaiva faith, who flourished in the 12th century in Karnataka had attained
such an electrical body which is known as Vyomakaya.

Physiology has recognized the importance of the middle
brain and of endocrine glands. It has therefore set a value upon the pituitary
and pineal glands. A special relationship unites the pituitary gland with the
roof of the third ventricle on the one hand and on the other the whole system
of ductless glands throughout the body. The third ventricle is a narrow slit
lying near the base of cerebral hemispheres and separating the two thalami from
each other. At the posterior end of this slit a small nodule of grey matter
projects backwards and overhangs corpora quadringamina of the mid-brain. This
is the pineal gland. It represents all that remains of the third eye which used
to adorn the forehead of some of the lizard ancestors in far off times. This
type of lizard is found only in New Zealand and it dates back to the end of
the Paleozoic period in the Permian epoch. One of this lizard's features is
that it has a quite developed third eye behind and between the usual two. This
is known as the pineal eye and is represented in man by the pineal gland.

The pituitary gland is situated at the base of the skull
with its two lobes, anterior and posterior. The pineal gland is connected with
the posterior portion of the pituitary. The pineal gland is like a tiny pine
cone about one eight of an inch in size and coloured grey, while the pituitary
is about the size of a ripe cherry and attached to the brain by a stalk. The
pineal gland is the negative pole being a counterpart of and complementary to
the pituitary body which is the positive pole. It is for this reason Yoga-science
observes that the pineal is to the pituitary what Buddhi is to Manas, what intuition
is to reason. The pineal is of considerable importance for it acts on the nerve
endings within itself and through them on the whole middle brain. The function
of the pituitary is to control the development of the body to suit the development
of the consciousness. It exercises this function through the other ductless
glands. The chief change which it brings into organism is the awakening of the
genetic functions by stimulating the sexual glands. But the pineal gland is
there to prevent the pituitary from awakening the sexual functions too soon
and acts as a check on anterior lobe of the pituitary. This is why the pineal
is associated with the spiritual nature of man.

The pineal is the seat of cosmic thought. Human thought
may be regarded as a result of suspended action, which the subject does not
allow to proceed to its full realization. At each step new inhibitions intervene
to prevent energy from immediately discharging itself in motive channels. This
necessitates introversion or inward storings of energy until little by little
thought is substituted for the inhibited action. It would therefore be a pity
to confound introversion with an open retrogression, since the latter marks
a stage backwards in the line of evolution. Introversion is an indispensable
condition of self-realization. It is a rich and luminous simplicity which achieves
the dispersion of analysis by surpassing and overcoming it. It is the fruit
of the true intuition, the state of inner freedom. Hence in the complete introversion
there is no loss of consciousness but a displacement of attention. Consciousness
is dynamic, it is in fact something intensely mobile. When the exterior world
has disappeared, the circle of consciousness contracts and seems to withdraw
into the pineal where all organic functions and all psychic forces meet and
there it enjoys unity. Herein lies the secret of Samadhi, herein lies an instrument
for penetrating to the depths of functional consciousness or the supernal light.

All nervous energy which is connected with the pituitary
is electro-positive and all somatic energy, that is, cellular and humoral which
is connected with the pineal is electro-negative and the balance of these two
polarised electricities is maintained by the electric ions in-breathed with
the atmospheric air. The pituitary is physical in nature while the pineal is
spiritual in nature; to raise up the physical to the spiritual constitutes the
secret of Sadhana or worship, for by the meeting of the two energies which starts
from the one and produce the other is enhanced and fulfils itself. This is how
the union or the harmony between the two is achieved by Shivayoga.

The process is as follows: place the Linga on the palm
of the left hand so raised as to come in a line with the centre of the eyebrows.
Behind the back and just above the head an oil-fed lamp or candle should be
placed so that the light of the lamp or candle is reflected in the coating of
Linga. With half-closed eyes the devotee should fix his attention upon that
light reflected in the Linga, the coating of which is blue-black or indigo serving
to widen and deepen concentration. The concentrated gaze generates psychic heat
or Tapas which stirs into activity the pineal gland. This produces psychic light
or Tejas which, in turn, leads to the release of Ojas or thought force, which
is at once a power of vision and power of execution. Shivayoga therefore lands
one into a region of effective will and intuitive knowledge where to will is
to create, to think is to see.

The pineal gland is an oval shaped body about the size
of a pea lying in the middle of the head, behind and just above the pituitary.
It contains pigment similar to that found in the eyes and is connected by two
nerve cords with the optic thalamus. Since it controls the action of the light
upon the body scientists have suggested that it is a remnant of the third eye.
The third eye is an enigmatic organ having a universal history. It is the middle
eye of Shiva, it is the eye of the Horas Egyptian tradition. It is the horn
of the unicorn. The third eye is an organ apparently dormant but innately acquired
by mankind, whose awakening is the right of every individual. It is an organ
of inner vision which embraces eternity while our physical eyes look before
us seeing neither past nor future. He who has opened this third eye can direct
and control the energies of matter, see all things in the eternal now and therefore
be in touch with causes, reveal the etheric records and see clairvoyantly. It
is through medium of the third eye that an Adept can at any moment put himself
in touch with his disciple anywhere.

The mechanism of the human body is composed of six systems,
namely the nervous system, the respiratory system, the circulatory system, the
digestive system, the excretory system and the endocrine system. The endocrine
system consists of many glands situated at various places in the body. The pituitary
and the pineal are in the head, the thyroid and parathyroid are in the neck,
thymus in the thoracic cavity, the adrenals and gonads are in the abdominal
cavity. They are called ductless glands because the hormones produced in them
are thrown directly in the blood stream. Of all the glands the pituitary and
the pineal are the foremost. Physiology and anatomy have already described the
various functions of these two glands. But Yoga-science goes a step further
and says that the pituitary is the seat of individual consciousness while the
pineal is the seat of the universal consciousness. In the normal man these two
states of consciousness are not in harmony. To bring about the harmony between
these two states of consciousness is the object of Yoga. In Shivayoga the cosmic
consciousness descends to meet the individual consciousness through the optic
thalamic nerve. The meeting takes place in the centre of the eyebrows or the
Bhrumadhya.

When the pituitary and pineal glands have become fully
developed and stimulated, their vibrations fuse and stir into activity the third
eye, the eye of the soul. This activity provides the mind with a sensitive instrument,
a transmitter by means of which vibrations of very differing types can be translated,
interpreted and rearranged. This gives man personal access to the wisdom.

During the embryonic development of the human race man's
only organ was the one eye, or the etheric eye, with which he used to see all
non-solid matter. As the earth solidified man developed his two physical eyes
which can see the solid world but his etheric eye or the third eye receded,
its etheric sight spreading all over the nervous system and having its seat
in the third ventricle of the brain. The earliest people used only that middle
eye or the third eye and were known as Cyclops.

As physical eyesight developed, the etheric eyed recessed,
but although dormant as the pineal gland, it is only awaiting development and
training to be reawakened. This training was a part of deliberate yogic process
which was well understood and thoroughly provided for in the ancient wisdom.
When the third eye is opened, the individual begins to see all the activities
of the etheric plane, and he approaches much nearer to the causes and realities
of life. He can see the thought-forms, entities and complex types of life which
make up a vast world of teeming energies which the limited capacity of ordinary
physical sight is unable to register.

The ancients knew all about the third eye and indicated
it on the statues of their Gods by a knob on the forehead. The Egyptians trained
the people in the use of this psychic centre in the temple of Maat. The god
Maat was vulture-headed, because the vulture has a sight so keen as to be almost
clairvoyant. When people responded to this training they became seers. They
could see with the trained third eye, right through the body, as the X-ray does
and diagnose a disease. All over the East and India, we find statues of historic
man of wisdom with a knob or other mark upon the forehead indicating this type
of achievement.

The scientists and medical experts have laboured in the
field of biology and physiology to find out facts about the pineal gland. They
opine that the pineal gland contains the most astonishing qualities which would
be of immense benefit, if only we learn how to develop and use them. It can
become a window of life through which we can realise a new dimension of consciousness.
The pineal gland is a link between the physical body and the nervous system
and holds the key to the opening of the third eye or the sixth organ. The third
eye, far from being a spiritual symbol is in fact the pineal gland.

Three things emerge from the labour of the scientist and
medical experts about the pineal gland:

1) The pineal gland is made up of two types of cells -
pineo-cytes and astro-cytes. The latter are found throughout the nervous system,
but they are not present in any other gland except the pineal. This is the first
peculiarity.

2) Every organ in the human body depends on something else:
nothing works entirely by itself. Even the heart which has its own nervous system
is governed by magnetic currents flowing from the centre but the pineal, though
linked with the brain, is not activated by the nerve cells that surround it.
It appears to be activated by messages that reach it from the eyes - messages
conveyed by the pupils rather than by retinal images. This is the second peculiarity.

3) The third peculiarity is that the pineal acts as a kind
of built-in cosmic ray receiver. Cosmic radiation is now known to exercise a
considerable influence over our everyday lives. Probably for this reason, occultism
opines that pineal is the seat of cosmic thought.

Occultism suggests that pineal is the uterus of the brain.
In sexual reproduction man uses the organs and Chakras below the diaphragm and
friction is the mechanism. In the higher creative acts, the organs and Chakras
of higher trinity are used. In this higher process, the mechanism is the spiritual
discipline and endeavour. Hence the increased creative activity leads to the
opening of the third eye.

The human brain has a fundamental resemblance to the human
embryo. It represents the component parts of a bodily form, with the repetition
of the endocrine glandular pattern which is hermaphrodite. The pineal and pituitary
represent the male and female elements, while there are two perfectly formed
little breasts, known as the mammary glands. When the pineal and the pituitary
are aroused to a new livingness, they are stimulated to the point when finer
vibrations and new radiations are set up. These finally impinge upon each other.
Then the wonderful marriage within the head, between the pituitary and the pineal
takes place. When this happens, the real consciousness is born and the sacred
third eye flows into being.

In SHIVAYOGA the steadfast gazing at Linga is of vital
importance because it generates magnetism which galvanizes into activity the
dormant pineal gland. As a result of a sustained look at Linga, the transmuted
energies rise up the nerve channel into the medulla oblongata through the pons,
then pass down into the pituitary behind the eyes. The increasing pituitary
radiations finally pass through the third ventricle until they awaken the dormant
pineal and the third eye lights up between them. Thus SHIVAYOGA teaches us the
technique of opening the third eye.

All eyes need a lens to give meaning to the light sensations.
The third eye is not exempt and a lens is built into the aura in front of the
forehead. The construction of the lens is the part of the necessary discipline
that leads to the accurate perception with the organ of the inner vision. The
crystal gazing indicates the nature of the mistery. Ishtalinga which is an indispensable
aid to Shivayoga is a crystal magnet. For the formation of psychic lens to the
accumulation of the material in the aura a focal point is created with the provision
of a steadfast gaze.

The human eyes use a lens to concentrate rays of light
on a sensitive region of the retina. Here photo receptors register light impression
in clearly defined patterns which are then conveyed through the optic nerves
by electrical impulses to the brain. It is the optic thalamic nerve that connects
the pineal with the pituitary. Light energy flows from the pineal through the
optic thalamic nerves to the two eyes. Eyes pour occult forces or unseen emanations
which have been discovered by Dr. Oscar Brunler. He showed that the written
manuscripts and the great works of the art carry impressions with them, the
radiation of the human eyes which pour over them lovingly during their creation.
Measuring in degrees biometric Brunler gave an average seize as 350. He found
out that Bacon showed 640, Michelangelo registered 689 while Leonardo gave a
reading of 725.

The third eye is a four-dimensional organ. Hence it flourishes
in a situation in which control of time has become a developed capacity. Any
sort of showing down of time will enable activity of the third eye to become
facile.

Man is but a spiritual embryo. His potential is immense.
Man has powers latent within him and they show everywhere in the paranormal
phenomena witnessed as ESP, that is, extrasensory perception. All men manifest
ESP when they are asleep. If man could retain consciousness while the physical
body is asleep, his psychic powers could be recognised and used up by him. Restoration
of that memory or self-remembrance constitutes the unfoldment of the third eye.

Sahasrara or the crown plexus, where the pineal resides,
when stirred into activity the Sahasrara becomes the most resplendent of all
the centres full of indescribable chromatic effects and vibrates with extreme
rapidity thus opening the third eye through the awakening of the pineal. The
realm of the Sahasrara is characterised by Chinnada, Chitbindu and Chitkala
by life that pulsates, by the light that illumines and by the law that governs.

Finally, Shivayoga Pradipika, a valuable Yoga manual, speaks
of Shivayoga as having four aspects - Shiva Bhakti, Shiva Jnana, Shiva Vrata
and Shiva Dhyana. Shivayoga in one sense is integral, for it integrates Bhaktiyoga,
Jnanayoga, Karmayoga and Dhyanayoga all in one.

Shivayoga Pradipika defines Linga as the connecting and
co-ordinating link between Shiva and Shakti or as the unifying principle of
truth and will. This concept of Linga is significant and valuable. Shiva is
the Sat aspect of reality while Shakti is its Chit aspect. Shiva and Shakti
are the transcendent and immanent, static and dynamic, personal and impersonal
aspect of reality. There seems to be an apparent opposition between the two.
There is no opposition because Sat and Chit become one in Ananda. That is why
reality is spoken of as Sacchidananda. The one saving feature of Shivayoga is
this that it has endeavoured to resolve this apparent opposition not by taking
the aspects one after the other but by ascending to a height of spiritual intuition
where the two are melted and merged into a perfect whole.